The Ebon Hawk

Sor'cha Ylvara

Sor'cha Ylvara was born to Neri and Lir Kirgar on the far flung Outer Rim planet of Wistre in 3668 ATC on the 22nd day of Yelona by the Galactic Standard Calendar. But then she was only known as the young couple's first born daughter--Lyra.

The Kirgars were a family of some local note in their town, Sor'cha's father serving the country's ruler as the equivilant of the local governor and part of one of the region's handful of 'noble' families from which the country's ruler must be born. The country in which Sor'cha was born was ruled by heriditary monarchy with the royal family marrying spouses who came from the lower ranked noble families for generations.

Wistre-a space capable and technologically modern planet with some ships of their own and droids but no real inclination to use them (preferring a simpler lifestyle in general) and of such litle political or industrial consequence neither the Republic nor the Empire felt the desire to draw them into their fold or conquer it--was a quiet planet, still divided into countries that conflicted with one another, but one thing they could all agree on, was that none of them wanted anything to do with the Great Galactic War. An independent world--where starships and most droids were the things of the capital cities--that kept to themselves, they were blessedly spared the horrors other planets and governments suffered during the war but they had enough to deal with as it was. For Wistre is a planet strong in the Force. Both the lightside and the dark. And it would be that darkness that set the girl who would never know her birthname, becoming known as Sor'cha instead, on her path.

One late autumn night, not terribly long after her birth, Sor'cha's town was attacked by what the Wistreans call Change Beasts, nominally sentient creatures twisted by the darkside corrupted Pelagran Forest in which they preferred to dwell and stretched across two countries in a narrow (relatively) band. Not a single person was left alive. Save her. The Change Beasts--a sadistic and cannibalistic lot--decided that the offspring of the local leader would make a fine snack for their own leader. A tender prize.

But that was not to be either for the trope of Change Beasts were attacked by the denizens of the adjacent country, upon which Sor'cha's own butted, as they attempted to slip into the deep caves beneath the mountain range that stood between. The Change Beasts were all felled and the infant Sor'cha found among the dead, a tiny, mewling, starved babe with a thatch of deep fire red hair and eyes like bits of amber.

As chance would have it, the infant had been saved by, Jareth, the brother of the adjacent country's King, who was himself the head of the King's Guard and had been riding patrol along the border with his son Sadron and their men. They took the child home and presented her to Jareth's wife, Kahlan with the suggestion that if the child's real parents couldn't be found, that perhaps they might adopt the child as their own, since they had always wanted a daughter as well as a son but never been able to produce a second child.

But despite their search, the child was presumed dead by her own country's people along with her parents and her true lineage was never discovered. So the little red headed infant was named Sor'cha (meaning Fire Crown) in their local tongue and given their surname, Ylvara. Though the 'high position' of being the adopted daughter of the king's brother meant little, since their country was ruled by an elected monarchy not a hereditary one.

The girl grew up nothing short of a spitfire despite all attempts by her adoptive parent's and teacher's attempts otherwise, and no matter how hard they tried Sor'cha never quite felt as if she belonged. She always felt apart from those around her...different... and not all of it was because she was an adopted orphan. She constantly wandered wherever she was allowed to as though she were searching for the place she belonged to no avail.

As she grew she proved to be astonishingly adept with a vibrosword and no slouch with a blaster. Her talent with the local livestock was so well known that she spent most of her free time gentling the animals for riding beasts and there wasn't a person alive who could get a lie past her. She was called lucky due to her propensity of being remarkably so, so often, her brother used it as a secret nickname to tease her mercilessly and she'd been banned from every gambling house in the area.

By the time she was eighteen standard years old she'd enlisted in the King's Guard alongside her father and brother (to whom she was so close she was called by her name as much as the moniker 'Sadron's Shadow'). But she always harbored a secret hatred for the Change Beasts, for her 'luck' also came with a far reaching memory that let her remember in vague bits and pieces the attack that had claimed her parents lives (though not their names or faces) and had almost claimed hers. She became renowned as a hunter of Change Beats, actively hunting them down and killing them so they could never again harm innocents with a vengeance--but it did nothing to quell her hatred of them. Nor did helping those she found in her travels or those victimized by the Change Beasts. Nor did she ever find a place that she truly felt she belonged. Only in her brother's company did she find any sort of relief.

Not schooled in the ways of the Force, the Jedi or the Sith, her adoptive parents had no idea the danger her hatred put her in. But someone did and he arrived on Wistre seemingly by accident. The Sephi Jedi Master Lorian was forced to land when his hyperdrive failed along the Trilleium Trade Route as he traveled to Tattoine, 'luckily' spiting him out of hyperspace (without hurling him into a star or a planet's core) in the Wistre system. Unable to put down in a larger capital city where he might have more easily sought repairs he was forced down near the Pelagran Forest...into which Sor'cha often traveled hunting Change Beasts.

Thus, the two met when Sor'cha noticed the ship all but crashing into the forest and went to investigate. She aided the battered and bruised Jedi and assisted him in returning to her home, in the country's capital city. And Master Lorian immediately recognized her for what she was. A very strong, untrained, Force-sensitive. His accidental landing hadn't been so accidental after all.

Once his ship was repaired and he could again depart, he confessed that knowledge to her and asked her to become his Padawan. She agreed after a great deal of thought, torn between her love for her homeworld, her family and above all her brother. But she'd found a connection with the Jedi Master that filled the empty places that left her feeling as though she didn't belong all her life and so, she went.

Master Lorian's gentle nature, constant focus and calm proved to be the exact thing Sor'cha needed. Under his tutelage she learned to control her abilities in the Force. To grow and come to peace with herself and the rest of the galaxy...and she thought...her past.

But her final trial of Knighthood, occurred on Tython, as she assisted during the raids on the Fleshraider camps commanded by Master Orgus Din during the Fleshraider uprising. A trial that awoke every half remembered, believed forgotten, hatred and fear she possessed, for the Fleshraiders were remarkably similar in behavior and intent to the Change Beasts of Wistre. It was, at the time, the most harrowing experience of her life despite actively hunting Change Beasts on Wistre. Then she had embraced her hatred, born of the fear and trauma of her infancy. But on Tython she'd had to face that fear and that hatred head on...without giving in to it when everything in her wanted her to kill them all to a man. And she'd done it. To her own astonishment but not to her Master's.

She was made a Knight, and joined the ranks of the Jedi Sentinels, serving what was her real heart's desire not the killing of Fleshraiders or Change Beasts, the one that had been buried under the hatred and fear....protecting the weak and the innocent and stopping evil.

Sor'cha served during the Cold War turned Second Great Galactic War with distinction, making her name and face well know among certain circles, particuarly her fellow Jedi but to her relief not to the galaxy at large. She despised excess attention in that manner and felt it would only serve to impede her real duty. She served under the Supreme Commander of the Jedi on Corellia and even had the honor of learning a few tips from the same Jedi--better known as the Hero of Tython-- while the latter served as the order's Battlemaster...before Zakuul.

Now, the order scattered and shattered, the Grand Master disappeared, Sor'cha--now a Master herself--wanders, still intent on protecting the weak and the innocent and flat refusing to give up in the face of what seems like unconquerable odds against a foe, the likes of which neither the Republic or the Empire have ever seen.

And she's heard whispers of a rebellion against them...and a woman named Red...

Stats: Current age: 35Height: 1.55 meters (5'10)Hair Color: Dark flame redComplexion: Fair, no frecklesEye Color: Amber brownSpecies: HumanProfession: Formerly a solider in the Wistrean King's Guard, now a Jedi SentinelHomeworld: WistrePreferred weapon: her duel lightsbaers, a blaster or whatever happens to be available in that order. Most certainly a combat pragmatist.

Traits:Stubborn but adaptable. Sarcastic. Witty. Good sense of humor. Secretly more soft hearted and sensitive than she cares to appear to others. More apt to suggest martial action than diplomacy (a big fan of aggressive negotiations). Fun loving within reason. Quietly laid back. Not your typical Jedi. leans more toward what will one day be the NJO's ideals than the current doctrine...making her something of a gray Jedi in her own era. Not quick to anger but potentially explosive when she does...thank the Force for Jedi training to control it.

Likes: Copious amounts of stimcaf. The outdoors. Nature. Animals. Computers. Books. Reading. Has a soft spot for orphans. Likes it when others can give as good as they get in a battle of good natured barbs. Physical activities--rock climbing, combat practice etc...though of late she's gotten plenty of that without wanting to. Her family. Adoptive or those she views as family... which includes her friends, most of her allies and the entire Jedi Order. Did I mention stimcaf? Quoting sayings from her homeworld in relevant situations. Won't tell anyone but she adores flowers.

Dislikes: Slavery. Injustice. Oppression. Cruelty. Betrayal. Willful ignorance. Cities that are too confining and stifling with no access to nature. Alcohol..simply because it interferes with her Force senses but she really misses it. Anything in the mushroom family...even vaguely. People who lie to cause harm or to be vicious. Power grabbers for the sake of power. Politics, despite having a keen grasp of them having grown up in a nominally noble/royal household. Playing the victim and using it as an excuse to do bad things. Bullies of any kind.

Life Goal: Fighting to protect the weak and the innocent, for justice...whatever it takes. And not a goal but perhaps a hope...to maybe one day find love--Jedi Code or not.